yeoman

Examples of yeoman in the following topics:

• Jefferson's Agrarian Policy

  • The Jeffersonians believed in democracy and equality of political opportunity, especially for the yeoman farmer and the plain folk.
  • The Jeffersonians believed in democracy and equality of political opportunity (for white male citizens), with a priority for the yeoman farmer and the plain folk.
  • The yeoman was the backbone of American society because independent farming, land ownership, and control of one's labor were values that Jeffersonian Democrats hoped to embody in a decentralized system of limited government and maximum individual liberty.
  • The frugality, austerity, and self-reliance of the yeoman farmer were virtues that should be emulated by the federal government: to circumscribe tyrannical powers in favor of encouraging individual industry and improvement .
  • Jefferson's vision of a decentralized agricultural society, in which yeoman farmers acquired land across vast amounts of territory, seemed a possibility in 1803 with such a vast opening for settlement.

• "Poor Whites"

  • In his study of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Orville Vernon Burton classified white society into three groups: the poor, the yeoman middle class (also called the plain folk of the Old South), and the elite.
  • A clear line demarcated the elite, but according to Burton, the line between poor and yeoman was less distinct.
  • However, Stephanie McCurry argues that yeomen were clearly distinguished from poor whites because yeoman owned land.
  • Wartime shortages increased the economic divide between planters and yeoman farmers; nevertheless, some planters honored their paternalistic obligations by selling their corn to plain folks at the official Confederate rate "out of a spirit of patriotism. " Wetherington's argument challenges other scholars' suggestions that class conflict contributed to the Confederate defeat.

• The Middle Classes

  • The middle classes of colonial America consisted mostly of yeoman farmers and skilled craftsmen.
  • Migration, agricultural innovation, and economic cooperation were creative measures that preserved New England's yeoman society until the 19th century.

• White Society in the South

  • Antebellum society in the South consisted of a class of wealthy plantation-owners, a middle class of yeomans, poor whites, and slaves.
  • In his study of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Orville Vernon Burton classified white society into the poor, the yeoman middle class, and the elite.
  • A clear line demarcated the elite, but according to Burton, the line between poor and yeoman was never very distinct.

• American Republicanism

  • Thomas Jefferson and the Democrat-Republicans, on the other hand, believed that federal government should be limited by state sovereignty, and that the national economy should be structured around yeoman agriculture.
  • Yeoman agriculture, as depicted by the Democratic-Republicans, was a system of small-share farming in which an independent (white male) farmer owned his own land and the fruits of his labor.
  • The yeoman was wholly self-sufficient and reliant on his industry to produce the items he required, rather than obtaining them through commercial activity with foreign nations.
  • According to this vision, the yeoman was to be the backbone of American society, rather than the merchant or the artisan.

• The Rise of the West

  • Westward expansion was motivated by the Jeffersonian ideal of the yeoman farmer and enabled by technological improvements.

• Middle Class

  • In the book he used statistical data to analyze the make-up of southern society, contending that yeoman farmers made up a larger middle class than was generally thought.
  • Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democrats favored the term "yeoman" for the independent land-owning farmer.
  • Plain Folk argued that southern society was not dominated by planter aristocrats, but that yeoman farmers played a significant role.

• Plain Folk of the Old South

  • Plain Folk argued that yeoman farmers played a significant role in Southern society during this era rather than being sidelined by a dominant aristocratic planter class.
  • In his study of Edgefield County, South Carolina, Orville Vernon Burton classifies white society into the poor, the yeoman middle class, and the elite.
  • A clear line demarcated the elite, but according to Burton, the line between poor and yeoman was less distinct.

• Early New England Society

  • Early New England Puritan society was characterized by yeoman farming communities and a growing merchant class.
  • Migration, agricultural innovation, and economic cooperation were creative measures that helped preserve New England's yeoman society.

• Social Classes in the Colonies

  • Beyond the plantations, yeoman farmers operated small holdings, sometimes a few slaves.